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*

INTHEHI
GHCOURTOFJUDI
CATUREATHYDERABAD

FORTHESTATEOFTELANGANAANDTHESTATEOFANDHRAPRADESH

*HON’
BLESRIJUSTI
CEV.
RAMASUBRAMANI
AN

AND

*HON’
BLESRIJUSTI
CEN.BALAYOGI

+WP(
SR)
.No.
18227of2018

Dat
e: -
06-
2018

#Bet
ween:

Gi
nneMal
l
eswar
aRao,
S/oVeer
aswamyand

Mahal
akshmi
,aged66y
ear
s,Occupat
ion:
Adv
ocat
e,

R/
o301,
MinarApar
tment
s,DeccanTower
s,

Basheer
bagh,
Hyder
abad

…Pet
it
ioner

And

Sr
iE.
S.L.Nar
asi
mham,
Gov
ernoroft
he

St
ateofAndhr
aPr
adesh,
Raj
Bhav
an,
Hyder
abad

and4ot
her
s

…Respondent
s
!Counsel
fort
hePet
it
ioner:Mr
.I.Mal
l
ikar
junaSar
ma

^Counsel
forRespondent
s :

HON’
BLESRIJUSTI
CEV.
RAMASUBRAMANI
AN

AND

HON’
BLESRIJUSTI
CEN.BALAYOGI

W.
P.(
SR)
.No.
18227of2018

ORDER:
(perV.Ramasubr
amani
an,
J)

Thepet i
ti
oner
, whoclai
mst obeapubl i
cspir
it
edi ndi
vi
dualandanAdv ocate,
hascomeupwi ththeabov ewri
tpeti
ti
onseekingtheissueofawr i
tofquo- warranto
decl
aringthecontinuanceofthe4threspondenti
nof f
iceastheSpeakeroft he
AndhraPr adeshLegisl
ativ
eAssemblyandt heconti
nuanceofthe5thr espondentin
thepostofM. L.
A.-
cum-Mini
sterasill
egal
andunconst i
tut
ional.

2.Hear
dMr
.I.Mal
l
ikar
junaSar
ma,
lear
nedcounsel
fort
hepet
it
ioner
.

3.Itappearsthatthewritpeti
ti
onwasor i
ginal
lyli
stedbef
orealearnedSingl
e
Judgeon11-04-2018,forahear i
ngont heobjecti
onraisedbytheRegist
ryast ohow
r
espondents1to4wer emadeaspar ti
es.Thelearnedcounselfort
hepet i
ti
oner
madehissubmi ssi
onsbef orethelear
nedsi ngl
eJudgeont hequest
ionastohow
HisExcel
lency,theGov er
noroftheSt atecouldbemadepar t
y

Eonomi
nee.Af
tert
hesubmi
ssi
onswer
emade,
thel
ear
nedsi
ngl
eJudgehel
dthat
t
hewritpet
it
ionwasi
nthenatur
eofaPubli
cInter
estLi
ti
gat
ionandthatt
heref
ore,
it
shouldgobef
oreaDiv
isi
onBench.Accor
dingl
y,t
hematterl
andedbefor
eus.

4.Thegr i
ev anceoft hepet i
ti
oneri nbr ief,i
st hatint heEl ectionst otheState
Legi slativeAssembl yheldi nMay ,2014, themot heroft he5t hr espondenther ein
contest edf rom Al lagaddaConst i
tuency , asacandi datebel ongingt oYSRCPar ty;
thataf t ertheel ectionsbutbef orethedecl ar at i
onofr esults, shedi ed, necessit
ati
nga
by -el
ect ion;thatint heby -
election,the5t hr espondentgotel ectedunopposedasa
candi dat ebel ongingt oYSRCPar t
y; t
hataf t erherel ect i
on, the5t hrespondentand
herf at her,whowasal soaMemberoft heYSRCPar tycr ossedf loorst otheruli
ng
Tel uguDesam Par ty; thatuponcr ossingt hef loor,the5t hr espondentoughtt ohave
resi gnedf rom t heMember shipoft heAssembl y;thatont hecont rary,shewas
rewar dedbyt her ulingpartywi thaMi nist er shipint hey ear2017; thatcryingfoul,
compl aintswer emadet otheSpeakerf ordi squal ifyi
ngt he5t hr espondent ,butthe
samef el li
ndeafear s, t
hatshockedatt hei nact i
onont hepar toft he4t hrespondent-
Speaker ,
thepet i
ti
onersentr epresentationsandl egal noticest ot heSpeakeraswel l
asHi sExcel lency ,theGov ernor;andt hatsi ncebot hoft hem di dnott akeanyact ion,
t hepet it
ionerwascompel l
edt ocomeupwi thawr i
tpet i
tionseeki ngt heissueofa
wr i
tofquo- war r
ant o.

5.Thoughtheobj
ectionoriginal
lyrai
sedbyt heRegi str
ywasonl ywi t
hr espect
totheimpleadmentofrespondent s1to4, weaskedt helearnedcounselfort he
pet
it
ionerinthecour
seofhear i
ngt oclari
fyast ohowawr itofquowar rant
owi l
lli
e(i)
asagainstt
heSpeakerfornotdi sposi
ngoft hepetit
ionsf ordisqual
i
ficati
onand( i
i)
asagainstt
heMinist
er,withoutanyact ionbei
ngt akenbyt heSpeakerf or
di
squalif
icati
on.

6.I nresponset ot hequer yraisedbyt heBench, thel ear


nedcounsel f
orthe
pet i
ti
onersubmi ttedt hatt hemomentaMemberoft heAssembl ydef ectedf rom the
Polit
ical Partyaswhosecandi datehegotel ect ed,hesuffer sadisqualificationin
t
ermsofAr ti
cle191( 2)r eadwi ththeTent hSchedul etot heConst it
ution; thatthe
Speaker ,hasaConst it
ut i
onal obligati
onunderCl ause6oft heTenthSchedul etothe
Const i
t uti
on,todeci det hequest i
onast owhet heramemberoft heHousehas
sufferedanydi squal ifi
cat ion; t
hatadet ail
edpr ocedur ehasbeenl ai
ddowni nthe
Rulesi ssuedunderCl ause8( 1)oft heTenthSchedul e,f
ort heSpeakert of ollowin
decidi
ngt hequest ionofdi squal i
ficati
on;thatwhent heSpeakerf ail
st odi schar gehis
Const it
ut i
onalobl i
gat i
on, hebecomesgui l
tyofabdi cati
onofr esponsi bili
tiesand
becomesdi squali
f i
ed; t
hatsi ncet hedisquali
ficationonaccountoft hedef ectionis
automat i
c,the5t hrespondentcoul dnothav econt i
nuedi nof f
iceasaMi nister,
exceptbyget tingr e-elect edwi t
hinaper i
odofsi xmont hsfr
om thedat eof
appoi ntmentasaMi nist erandt hatsinceithasnotbeendone, awr i
tofquo-
warrantowasmai ntainable.

7.Wehav
ecar
eful
l
yconsi
der
edt
heabov
esubmi
ssi
ons.
8.Attheoutsetwedonotknowhowasi nglewri
tofquo-warr
antoasagainst
twodiff
erentConsti
tut
ionalf
uncti
onari
es(theSpeakerandaMi nist
er)canbe
mai
ntai
ned,especi
all
ywhent hegroundsonwhi chthewritofquo-
warrant
oissought
agai
nstbothofthem, dif
fer
.

9.Inanycase, themer efail


ureofthe4threspondent-Speakert otakeact ion
agai
nstthe5thr espondentf ordisqual
if
icat
ionwillnotmaket heSpeakerausur per
totheoffi
ceoft heSpeaker .Awr i
tofquo-warranto,i
tisfundament altopoi ntout,
canbeissuedonl ywhenaper sonholdsanof f
icewi t
houttheaut hor
ityorl aw.There
i
snopr ovi
sionint heConst i
tuti
on,whichmakesanon- perfor
mi ngConst i
tuti
onal
functi
onaryausur per( howevermuchonewoul dliketohav esuchapr ovisioninthe
Consti
tut
ion).Ther efore,
thefir
stprayermadei nthewr i
tpetit
ionseeki ngaquo-
warrantoagai nsttheSpeakeriswhol l
ymi sconcei
vedandf r
ivolous.

10.Comingt othequo- warrantoagainstthe5threspondent ,itist headmitted


caseofthepeti
tionert hatsof arnodeci si
ononherdi squali
fi
cationhasbeent aken
bytheSpeakerasr equiredbyCl ause6( 1)oftheTent hSchedulet ot heConst it
uti
on,
r
eadwi t
hrulesofpr ocedureframedi ntermsofCl ause8( 1)(d)oft heTenth
Schedule.TheConst i
tuti
ondoesnotenv isageautomat i
cdisqualification,but(i
)
nomi nat
estheaut hori
tycompet enttodecidethequest i
onofdi squal if
icati
onand( i
i
)
prescri
bestheprocedur etobef oll
owedbysuchaut horit
ybeforet akingadeci sion
wit
hregar dtothedisquali
fi
cation.

11.Therei salsonodeemi ngpr ov i


sionint heConstituti
ont otheef f
ectthatif
aquestionr egardingthedisqual i
fi
cat i
onofamemberi snotdeci dedwi t
hina
part
icul
art i
mef rame, thememberconcer nedwi lll
osehismember shipaut omat i
call
y.
Therearepr ovisi
onsi ncertai
nst atutespr escribi
ngthatthef ail
ureofanaut hori
ty
vestedwithapowert odecideani ssuewi thinatimef r
ame, wouldr esultina
deemi ngfictioncomi ngintooper ation.Suchapr ovi
sioni snotav ail
abl einthe
Constit
uti
on.I notherwor ds,thef ai
lureoft heSpeaker ,deli
berateorot herwise,t
o
takeadeci sionont hequest i
onofdi squal i
fi
cat i
onofthe5t hrespondent ,cannot
r
esultintheaut omat i
clossofmember shipoft heAssembl yf orthe5t hr espondent.

12.Inter estingl
y, thepet i
ti
onercl ai
mst ohavesentr epresent ations-cum- legal
not icestother espondent s1, 4and5.Onel etter-
cum-legal noti
ceiscl ai
medt ohav e
beensenton09- 11-2017t othe4t hr espondentandanot herletter
-cum- l
egal not i
ce
dat ed09-11- 2017i sclaimedt ohav ebeensentt othe5t hrespondent .Thepet iti
oner
alsocl ai
mst ohav esentanot herletter-
cum- not i
cetot he1str espondenton26- 12-
2017andal egal noticedat ed26- 02-2018t othe1str espondent .I tisseenf r
om
thesel ett
ers- cum- legal noti
cest hatt hepetitionernevermadeanyr epr esentat i
onby
himsel fseekingadeci sionbyt heSpeakeront hequest i
onofdi squal ifi
cation.Al lthe
let
t ers-
cum- legal not i
cesi ssuedbyt hepet i
tionerseekt oquest iontheSpeakerast o
whyhehasnott akenact i
onont hecompl ai
nt smadebyt hemember soft hepol iti
cal
par tyonwhoset ickett he5t hrespondentcont est
edandwont heel ect i
on.I tisnot
knownwhet hert hemember soft hatpolit
ical party
,whot ri
ggeredtheact ionint erms
ofClause6( 1)oft heTent hSchedul e,everappr oachedthisCour twithaprayerfora
mandamust oissueappr opriatedi
r ecti
onst otheSpeaker .Insuchci r
cumstances,it
i
snotknownhowt hepeti
t i
onerhast akencudgel sonbehal fofthose,whoar e
enti
tl
edt ocompl ain.Iti
sstatedbyt hepetit
ionerhimsel finhi
sl ett
ers-
cum-notices
addressedtot herespondent s1,4and5t hatthemember softheYSRCPar t
yhav e
al
readycompl ainedt otheSpeaker.Ther efore,itisforthem topur suethemat t
erand
thepetiti
oner,whohasnol ocusst andi t
opur suet hosecompl aints,cannotcomeup
wit
hapr oxyliti
gation.

13.Wear esurpr
isedatt hear gumentthatwit
hinsi xmont hsofbeing
appointedasMi nist
er,
the5thr espondentshouldhav econt estedanelecti
on.Thi
s
argumentisont hebasisofAr t
icle164( 4)oftheConstit
ution.Butitappli
esonlytoa
person,whoi snotamemberoft heLegislat
ureoftheSt ate.Today,the5th
respondentisamemberoft heLegi sl
atureandhence, Art
icle164( 4)doesnotapply.

14.Art
icl
e164(1B)oftheConsti
tut
ioni
salsonotappli
cabl
e,si
ncethe5t
h
respondenti
sy ett
obedisqual
if
ied(
i)bythecompetentaut
hori
tyand(i
i
)inthe
mannerprescr
ibedbytheRulesi
ssuedintermsofCl
ause8oft heTent
hSchedule.

15.Curi
ously,
thelearnedcounselforthepeti
ti
oneralsopit
chedhi
scl ai
m on
t
hebasisofthefundament alduti
esenshr
inedinArti
cle51Aoft heConst
itut
ion.But
thesearenotenforceablethroughwri
ts.Theycanonl ygui
detheCourtwhile
inter
preti
ngambiguousstatutes.

16.Theent
ir
ewritpet
iti
onoft hepet i
ti
onerpr
oceedsonthepr
emiseas
t
houghtherei
sanautomaticdisqualif
icati
on.Buti
tiscompl
etel
ybasel
ess.
Ther
efore,t
hewri
tpet
iti
onisnotmai nt
ainableandhence,
iti
srej
ect
edatthe
thr
eshol d.

_
___
___
___
___
___
___
___
__

V.RAMASUBRAMANI
AN,
J

_
___
___
___
___
_

N.BALAYOGI
,J

Dat
e: -
06-
2018

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